Man, Activision's info about COD games is one of the worst for years now.

I don't understand why, I don't think is just "forgetting" or "laziness", I think they want us to buy those useless strategy guides, which is ridiculous.

As a consumer I want that all the products I buy have instructions and detail every single option, button, etc., on the device I just bought.

If you press the manual on the WiiU, there are no explanations about the campaign, multiplayer prestiges, etc. What drives me nuts though, is that, if you google for the manual, you'll find an official game manual on Activision's Ghosts webpage, here, look:

Are you kidding me?, since when "manual" is synonym of "game credits"?, and its pretty much the booklet that comes on with the COD Ghosts box anyways!

Do they want fans to learn this info on their own and then share it on the forum?, that's not good for the consumers....the game should standalone in explanations, they shouldn't expect the consumer to buy a game and then let him figure out how the game works by practicing or googling stuff.

Recently I was trying to get the special MP costume that you get after 250 kills with the chrome attachment...to my surprise when I checked on my sniper rifle stats, I already surpassed 300 kills! (I started to use the sniper gun and the chrome at the same time)....then I spent some time on the internet trying to figure out why I didn't unlock the costume, and voila, after like 10 min someone says that in order to unlock it, the respective operation (challenge) has to be visible available, meaning that my work was wasted and I need to reset the operations (paying 3 squad points each time, cause it generates random operations) until I find the one related to the chrome attachment!, darn!

There are no explanations how prestige works, what operations are, etc.

I just wish that AtreyU gives me a convincing explanation why they don't provide detailed manual (don't care if it's on paper or digital format), and also wish he can pass this to the devs. so they can include them in some form in the future...if there is some future cause hearing the COD fans comments, this game is making lots of the bored or angry!

That's why I said I don't care about paper or digital format...going green is not an excuse not to give us a detailed manual!

And let's face the truth, big companies like Activision are in this business for the money...Then using capitalism 101, I think that more than being green I think the save themselves dozens of cents per copy (times millions of consumers) by not printing the manual.

I DON'T CARE ABOUT PAPER, OR DIGITAL....GIVE ME DIGITAL IF U FEEL "GREEN"

I want explanation of the features of the game. Just as an instruction booklet when you buy electronics, I want that.

Lately COD digital "manuals", are just a collection of game credits, and a default button layout...I can only imagine how confusing for a newbie could be to learn what the hell operation do, how to prestige, etc.

Man u r making me turn my WiiU just to check how game manuals look on a Nintendo (TM) game like Zelda WWHD.

chkkkk...turning on WiiU

inserting WWHD....

initiating game....

pressing home button on the gamepad....

on the display I see:

Fourteen different subsections with explanations, 18 pages in total, although some pages are very, very long (I guess they make like 3 letter-type pages).

Under "Adventuring" section I see detailed explanations of :

a) Basic actions

b) Situational Actions

c) Sailing

d) Using the Wind Waker

e) Tingle bottles

f) Items

Shutting down the WiiU (freeze...oh cr@p!!!!...lolololo)

There you go boys, that's how you suppose to give us a manual, no trees being killed. That's what I want!!...capice?

Nicely for us, most of the companies are trying to go green (and saving some money at the same time...what a coincidence!).

But this is about Activision, not Nintendo. I've just shown you that when Nintendo publishes a game, the manual is kind of useful. While Activision's COD's are just game credits and, maybe, if they feel merciful, a button layout.

Um....my copy of Windwaker HD doesn't even have a manual...it just has a slip of paper saying to use the electronic manual. ._.

grrrrrrrr!...y u no understand me?....is my engrich that bad?

I said I DON'T CARE IF THE MANUAL COMES EITHER IN PAPER OR DIGITAL VERSION, JUST GIVE IT TO ME!

Nintendo is saving money by not printing WWHD's manual, but still they give you the manual digitally when you press "home" button. Different from this is what Activision does, they neither give you a paper manual nor a digital manual, they only give you game credits and button layout. Games like BO sometimes have in-game descriptions of what does what, but Ghost is such in a hurry last minute version of MW3 that they didn't even bother to explain things.

Just another thing I noticed. I just unlocked a uniform (that in Ghosts operations looks like a ballistic vest....go figure how didactic IW are...lol) after killing 50 ppl with Trinity rockets.....well, I went to edit my soldier, and to my surprise I couldn't find any new uniform. Then I thought...a glitch?....was I dreaming?.....no way, what they forgot to tell me is that I can ONLY access that uniform (at least for now) if I change my gender (after a COD surgery) to female. They could have saved me some time (I don't wanna play with a female!) and let me know that "detail" before me deciding to do that operation!!!!!

This is not meant to be condescending. But why not just google. There are lots of non-official sites out there with the info you're seeking.

Wait there, just wait there.

I hear answers like that way too often these days.

Yeah, we live in an information era, and pretty much everything can be found in google, provided if you have the time and patience to search.

But I don't think that's the way to go. What if you ask something you know your dad, friend, teacher, etc. knows, and they answered "why don't you google it"?...what would happen to communication among people?.

Here's the same thing...Activision is the game publisher, they know everything about this game. We pay for it, and until not long ago they used to pack an instruction booklet (I've said I wouldn't care if instead of given me a paper manual they decide to give me a "proper" digital one). Now the last couple of years they have decided not to do it anymore. I want my discount now!!!!, cause the game is not a stand alone thing anymore, now it depends of me trying to find extra info for myself. Even more, that policy may not help to bring newbies to enjoy the full experience!

There is a problem with consumers these days, specially gamers, they are letting companies lower they standards every day. Same thing happens when they release games full of bugs. What happened to alpha and beta testing?...is the consumer now part of the "testing" personnel?...why don't I see that reflected on the final price?...I should get a discount or get paid for providing Activision with feedback they should have gotten through their own!

Please, let's don't defend companies, they are into this for our money!

Yeah, we live in an information era, and pretty much everything can be found in google, provided if you have the time and patience to search.

Really? Are you doing an 100 page doctoral thesis on Ghosts. It takes 5 seconds to google the issues with which the OP is concerned.

What if you ask something you know your dad, friend, teacher, etc. knows, and they answered "why don't you google it"?...what would happen to communication among people?.

Again, really? Telling someone to google the info someone is seeking for a video game will destroy communication among people? C'mon, man. It's not like my son is asking me about the "birds and the bees" and I tell him go google it; or, my daughter asking her English teacher what is a run-on sentence; or me asking a friend about how he feels about his new Audi and him telling me to google it.

I want my discount now!!!!, cause the game is not a stand alone thing anymore, now it depends of me trying to find extra info for myself. Even more, that policy may not help to bring newbies to enjoy the full experience!

You're already paying less because there's no manual. I'd rather not pay an extra $5 for hard copies of manuals with info easily accessed and accessed for free. Do you know how thick the manual would have to be if they included all the info about the game. (Think of the weight of paper and how that would affect shipping costs; think about the process of stocking paper and printing. Who do you think the costs will be passed down to.)

Same thing happens when they release games full of bugs. What happened to alpha and beta testing?...is the consumer now part of the "testing" personnel?...why don't I see that reflected on the final price?...I should get a discount or get paid for providing Activision with feedback they should have gotten through their own!

Please, let's don't defend companies, they are into this for our money!

Read my posts. I'm no fanboy. In fact, far from it. But we're talking about manuals in this thread, not other, perhaps legitimate, issues.

What I would suggest is next time you don't buy a product until you've fully satisfied yourself with what the game has, or has not, to offer. I took the wait and see approach, looks like you should have too.

Lol, no, it took another person some time to figure out this issue by himself first, if I would have bought this game right after launch I would have taken days (days wasted) until someone wrote something on the net, I was just lucky I bought it 7 days after. Besides, clearly I'M THE OP IN THIS THREAD...AND I DID END UP SOLVING THIS ISSUE BY GOING TO GOOGLE!!!

My problem is COD getting away with this, let's apply the same motto to lest popular games....what if instead 7 days, takes me weeks to figuring out something in google cause another game was not as popular?....what if that issue was only happening on the WiiU (small install-base, even smaller COD players)?

You don't seem to pay attention to the big picture. Both the bug issue and the no manual issue are part of the same big picture. This is devs. not doing their jobs and lowering their standards.

Actually before I didn't need that much info cause, besides MW3, most of COD games I got I bought them a month after release, enough time to have a database of issues. But that's not the point, the point is companies lowering their standards. And by the way you are not saving yourself 5 bucks, as I keep repeating in this thread over and over....I DON'T CARE ABOUT PAPER-MADE MANUALS....IF PUBLISHER WANNA SAVE THEMSELVES AND MYSELF SOME MONEY, GIVE ME A DECENT ELECTRONIC/ DIGITAL MANUAL!!! BUT DO THE WORK!.

By neglecting this issue you are playing in favor of the company. This may not be a mayor issue in your point of view, that doesn't give you the right to diminish my rant. I am entitled to complain, and frankly, I didn't think about this issue before cause more or less you could figure things on the game by yourself after some time, in BO games there were some explanations about what challenges do, Ghost is not the same. Only after I got issues due lack of explanations, over and over again is when I reacted and thought about the importance of having a manual, or better in-game explanations. We are just lucky this game is so popular that the database grows fast, and we are lucky that someone went to my same issue before me and posted the solution. That's not the way to go!

Nobody gives you the right to chose what is legitimate and what isn't. You may have all the time in the world, and you may wait and see...that's your choice. But you haven't think that your approach is based on a flaw by the publisher and some of us prefer to let them know about the issues and ask for fixes. And btw, if 100% of the COD consumers would follow the same approach...how the hell we will realize what's wrong with the game?...it takes courageous people willing to take the risk and go ahead and purchase the game early on. Only then you will get the info you are looking for!

Lol, no, it took another person some time to figure out this issue by himself first, if I would have bought this game right after launch I would have taken days (days wasted) until someone wrote something on the net, I was just lucky I bought it 7 days after. Besides, clearly I'M THE OP IN THIS THREAD...AND I DID END UP SOLVING THIS ISSUE BY GOING TO GOOGLE!!!

Most info are readily available BEFORE LAUNCH (see what I did there, all caps doesn't necessarily make my point any stronger. In fact, it distracts more than it focuses.) Out of all the issues the game is having, you choose the lack of instructions to whine about. You sound like an older person, are video games so new to you that you are having such difficulty to learn the game's in's and out's.

what if instead 7 days, takes me weeks to figuring out something in google cause another game was not as popular?

We're talking about CoD, what does other games have to do with this.

You don't seem to pay attention to the big picture. Both the bug issue and the no manual issue are part of the same big picture.

Then you should have made the thread of the title something like: "Devs are lazy and the game is crap." Just come out and say it instead of nitpicking some trivial and insignificant thing to make your more obvious point.

I DON'T CARE ABOUT PAPER-MADE MANUALS....IF PUBLISHER WANNA SAVE THEMSELVES AND MYSELF SOME MONEY, GIVE ME A DECENT ELECTRONIC/ DIGITAL MANUAL!!! BUT DO THE WORK!.

There goes the caps again. So it doesn't matter that the info, again, is already readily available. You just want it to be on an official Activision site, never mind the info would be exactly the same, I'm starting to think you're just naysaying for naysaying's sake.

By neglecting this issue you are playing in favor of the company.

How can I be neglecting the issue when the solution of that issue is readily accessible? Again, take a read of my posts, I'm far from favoring the devs. I do, however, disfavor laziness and lack of resourcefulness. The very type of laziness, mind you, of which you're accusing the devs to be guilty.

it takes courageous people willing to take the risk and go ahead and purchase the game early on. Only then you will get the info you are looking for!

It take courageous people to fight a war risking their lives. It take a few punches of the keyboard to get what you're so worked up over.

I agree with this. I can accept not putting a booklet in the game to save money or whatever. Although, I do think that's just being greedy, but hey, we're saving trees here too so whatever. But why do I have to buy a strategy guide now days to know how a killstreak works? Or why do I have to look it up on youtube? That crap should be in the e-manual. When I was moving I found the instruction booklet for Super Mario World for the SNES. That thing was like a book. It told you how to do everything. Same with Mario 64. You just don't get that stuff anymore. Why? Because greedy corporations want you to spend more money for the strategy guide. Lame. Sure I can figure things out in this game as I go, but back in the day you never had to do that. I used to read the manual and memorize what does what before I popped the game in. I miss those days.